Corrie Ten Boom: The TRUE Face of Christianity During WWII

When I read ignorant statements about Christians taking part in the mass genocide of the Jews in WWII, I seriously want to scream.

When people speak of the Vatican’s part in propping up Hitler during those dark years – what they do not understand is that Catholicism is NOT Christianity – not in any way, shape or form. I am convinced that Satan himself inspired the creation of the Catholic Church.

First of all, are we as born again believers not under the Covenant of Grace? Of course we are. Although Martin Luther did not finish well in his ministry, we can thank him for having the courage and conviction to post his 95 theses on the door of the Catholic Church. It ultimately cost him his life.

Luther was attempting to show the leaders of that cult this Bible doctrine:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Catholicism has always been a works based cult and I pray that many will come out of that cult and be saved. There are people who still attend Catholic services but are born again. I don’t understand why they feel the need to stay.

Corrie ten Boom has long been honored by evangelical Christians as an exemplar of Christian faith in action. Arrested by the Nazis along with the rest of her family for hiding Jews in their Haarlem home during the Holocaust, she was imprisoned and eventually sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp along with her beloved sister, Betsie, who perished there just days before Corrie’s own release on December 31, 1944. Inspired by Betsie’s example of selfless love and forgiveness amid extreme cruelty and persecution, Corrie established a post-war home for other camp survivors trying to recover from the horrors they had escaped. She went on to travel widely as a missionary, preaching God’s forgiveness and the need for reconciliation. Corrie’s devout moral principles were tested when, by chance, she came face to face with one of her former tormentors in 1947. The following description of that experience is excerpted from her 1971 autobiography, The Hiding Place, written with the help of John and Elizabeth Sherrill.

I’m Still Learning to Forgive

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavy-set man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. …

And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. …

“You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there.” No, he did not remember me.

“I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us.”

“But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, …” his hand came out, … “will you forgive me?”

And I stood there — I whose sins had every day to be forgiven — and could not. Betsie had died in that place — could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. “If you do not forgive men their trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” …

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. “Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then. source

The story of Corrie Ten Boom has inspired countless number of people through the decades. She embodied our Faith – our Love – She embodied Grace.

After all, that is why God has His believers under the Covenant of Grace. It’s all about forgiveness. He forgives us for our sins. He expects us to forgive those who have sinned against us – no matter how egregious the sin.

This is not a suggestion from the Lord. He commanded that we forgive – and we must. Remember that forgiveness is not an emotion – it is an act of our will.

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11 thoughts on “Corrie Ten Boom: The TRUE Face of Christianity During WWII”

Paul Morris

how well I remember reading the book then seeing the moviie more than 40 years ago. Corrie did exempligy true Christ like love and forgiveness. I’ve always appreciated her honest candour re her struggles with her “carnal” nature – the flesh – which she learned to bring into submission to Mashiach Yeshua in order to win victory. It also brings to mind another, namely, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who also went to the camp and like Corrie’s sister died just a few days before liberation. I remember reading his book, The Cost of Discipleship around the same time as Corrie’s (early 70s). I don’t think either of the books fully impacted me as at that time I’d only recently returned from being prodigal and was trying to “fit everything into its place” so to speak.
I’ve used Corrie’s dad’s advice to people many times, wherein when she asked him how to handle “getting caught” by the Nazis. He replied, asking her when did he give her the ticket to get on the train. She said, just as we’re to board. He replied that in the hour that you need power, strength, courage, etc to be victorious in any situation that Christ would give what is needed just as he (her dad) gave the ticket just as it was required.

I remember as a young Christian having read her book, and this passage stands out. It must have been challenging to forgive, but this man had repented and became a Christian. I wonder what to do with people who don’t repent?